Shen Wei/Drama
WARNING: This page contains spoilers through the end of the series. Early Life Shen Wei was born over 10,000 years before the start of the show. His parents died when he was a child, leaving him and his brother, Ye Zun, alone in the world. https://youtu.be/s7BgInVP3RI?t=211 ep35 The two of them decided to leave home to make their own way in the world and around the time that they did, an asteroid collided with Haixing. (ep35) It released 120,000 tonnes of energy and destroyed the underground where Dixingians lived. (ep34) The planet became "resourceless" and people's minds and thoughts started to change. They started to get used to it but Shen Wei decided he wasn't going to let that happen to him, so he started coming forward whenever there were fights or troubles. His enemies started fearing him and they called him Black Cloak Envoy because he always wore black clothes. https://youtu.be/s7BgInVP3RI?t=285 ep35 An extremist Chieftain used his power of manipulation to create the rebel faction and try to take over Haixing. (ep34) He comes across Shen Wei and Ye Zun on top of a cliff when they're children and tries to get Shen Wei to join him, because he has potential. Shen Wei sees his bloody hand and says that he just killed someone. Ye Zun, who hadn't been feeling well, coughs so hard that he passes out. The Chieftain goes to check his pulse and Shen Wei slaps his hand away, telling him not to hurt his brother. The Chieftain grabs him by the throat and throws him off the cliff. He survives the fall with just a few scrapes but when he gets up, he trips over a half-buried rusted glaive which he digs out. He runs back up to the top of the cliff to find his brother but no one's there. Shen Wei eventually comes to believe that he's dead but unbeknownst to him, Ye Zun had been told by the Chieftain that Shen Wei abandoned him and was taken in and controlled by him. (ep40) The Dixingren, Yashou, and humans allied together to stop the Chieftain's rebel forces. As the Black Cloak Envoy, Shen Wei led a thousand men at the beginning of the conflict but by the time Zhao Yunlan travels back in time, only a few are left. He and his men are in a fight against rebels and Zhao Yunlan saves him by shooting one of the rebels and injuring their leader. Shen Wei thanks him and says that he has to see to his men and then they leave. He meets Zhao Yunlan again in the allied headquarters, which are in the mountain with the highest peak on Haixing. He tells Zhao Yunlan that he doesn't know how to repay him for saving his life and Zhao Yunlan tells him to take off his mask and smile. Shen Wei replies that when everything is finished, he will fulfill any wishes Zhao Yunlan has to his utmost ability. (ep34) During a talk on a cliff side, Zhao Yunlan sticks the lollipop that he's been eating in Shen Wei's mouth when Shen Wei is telling him about how his blade must be fast, before his enemies notice his hands shaking in fear. He tells Shen Wei that it's something he can eat and that he has to lick it, which Shen Wei does. He says that Shen Wei is still a youth and yet his days are bitter but that "the sweet, the sour, the spicy, and astringent. Life has many other flavours waiting for you." Shen Wei asks for his name and Zhao Yunlan says that it's Kunlun, and Shen Wei is awed and says that he has long heard that name. He tells him that the "life I owe you, I will definitely return it to you." Zhao Yunlan says that he has already returned it many times over. (ep34) Shen Wei tells Kunlun that aside from him, no one's tried to get to know him. "They love me, respect me, hate me, and reject me. But they are not willing to sit down and share their real thoughts with me." https://youtu.be/s7BgInVP3RI?t=675 ep35 Ye Zun becomes the new rebel leader after devouring the old one and absorbing his powers. They declare war on the allied forces and Shen Wei is determined to take back the Hallows, which they had previously stolen. He and Zhao Yunlan ambush the rebels in the forest and are successful in obtaining the chest containing the Hallows. Zhao Yunlan tries to activate them to open the wormhole so he can return to the present, but fails. The rebels show up and a fight ensues. In the process, Da Qing gets hit while carrying the chest and the Hallows spill out. They float into the sky and open a wormhole. Shen Wei watches as Kunlun is sucked into it. A column of pressurized force from the Hallows traps Ye Zun and he reaches out for Shen Wei, who grabs onto his hand and tries to pull him out. But the ground breaks apart and Ye Zun falls into the pit. Shen Wei keeps standing there while the ground under him breaks apart too, and falls into the crack. But he doesn't die. His present-day self tells Zhao Yunlan in the wormhole, where they're observing this, that either the Hallows protected him or he was simply lucky. (ep35) Present Day 10,000 years pass, the Hallows have been lost, resources are becoming scarcer in Dixing causing more and more Dixingren to escape above ground. Ye Zun is trying to escape his pillar. The Justiciar asks the supervisory department in Haixing to allow him to investigate, and he appoints Dingdun to do that. The Justiciar's assistant thinks that the Black Cloak Envoy was "quite cowardly" and that they could have lived above ground instead of in Dixing if it wasn't for him. He is sent to check on Ye Zun. (ep35) Dingdun's team is exploring above ground and one of them spots a piece of the earth shifting around - it's the Black Cloak Envoy, rising up from the dirt. (ep35) The Black Cloak Envoy goes to the palace and the Justiciar calls him their hero and the "real leader of Dixing." The Black Cloak Envoy replies that the Justiciar now has a heavier burden than he himself did 10,000 years ago because peace is easy to obtain but hard to maintain, and that he's not going to challenge the Justiciar's position. He wants to go to Haixing, to make sure that the escaped Dixingren aren't causing problems and to find the lost Hallows. When the Justiciar asks him what name to use for his cover identity, the Black Cloak Envoy says "Shen Wei." (ep35) Shen Wei goes to see his brother in the pillar before he leaves. Ye Zun tells him that the gods seem to want to keep them alive so they can fight each other. (ep35) On the surface of Haixing, Shen Wei was supposedly born and raised on the east side of Dragon City and is 32 years old when the show starts. He has a PhD from University of Dragon City and is now a professor of biology there. He has a TA named Li Qian. He does research on genetic mutations. (ep01) At some unspecified point prior to the start of the show, a squad of Dixingren had been dispatched by the Palace to help Shen Wei find the Hallows, but he lost contact with them. (ep05) Working with the SID Shen Wei meets Zhao Yunlan on campus, where the SID is investigating the death of a student. Zhao Yunlan gives him his card and says they should chat. The card says "Stewart Mark" with S.D.I Section Chief under it, though the subtitle says it reads as Zhao Yunlan. (ep01) While reviewing a file he has on Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei recalls the conversations he had on the cliff with Kunlun and thinks to himself that he's been searching for him for 10,000 years.* (ep01) When he runs into Zhao Yunlan on campus again, he lets on that he knows about Dixing. Zhao Yunlan says that he feels they have a "kinship" and Shen Wei says that perhaps they've met before. (ep01) He later appears as the Black Cloak Envoy on the rooftop of the university after the SID have apprehended the Shadow Man, to bring him back to Dixing. Zhao Yunlan says that this is the first time he's visited since he became Chief. (ep01) He opens a portal and appears in the SID headquarters as Zhao Yunlan is trying to use the Longevity Dial to save Butler Wu's life. He cautions Zhao Yunlan against activating a holy tool and asks him if it's worth exchanging half his life to save a Dixingren. The SID all then ask him to save Butler Wu and he comments that the SID has changed. After he saves Butler Wu, he learns that the Hallows search team he lost contact with was ambushed in a forest by youchu (ghost beasts) and killed. (ep05) During his first confrontation with Ye Zun, Zhao Yunlan is blinded. After a tip from Li Qian, who's now working in Professor Ouyang's lab, Shen Wei uses the Longevity Dial to share his life force with Zhao Yunlan and heal his eyes. (ep22) Death Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei are both captured by Ye Zun and his forces in the Dixing Palace. Zhao Yunlan is chained to a pillar while Shen Wei, already grievously injured, lies on the floor. Shen Wei gets up and throws himself in front of Zhao Yunlan, taking a hit of black energy from Ye Zun that was meant for Zhao Yunlan. After he falls to the floor again, Ye Zun forms an icicle and stabs him through the heart with it while Zhao Yunlan screams. Ye Zun then devours Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan shouts for him to kill him too. (ep40) Inside Ye Zun's body, Shen Wei is reunited with Lin Jing and makes him promise to push the icicle the rest of the way into his heart when the time is right, so that the rest of his power can be released. The Justiciar and the King are also devoured and end up in Ye Zun's stomach with them. When Shen Wei gives the signal, Lin Jing does as he promised and Shen Wei uses his power to send him, the Justiciar, and the King back out into the real world while he stays. He then uses his power to extract the icicle, so that his blood, which has been changed into more human and therefore incompatible with Dixing energy, can spill out and kill Ye Zun from inside. (ep40) Shen Wei is reunited with Ye Zun in the Palace after they're dead and says that they can go home now. Ye Zun doubts he has a home to go to, because Shen Wei abandoned him when they were children. Shen Wei tells him what really happened that day they met the rebel Chieftain on the mountaintop and Ye Zun realizes he was tricked all those years ago. He takes Shen Wei's hand and the two of them walk off together. Shen Wei pauses on the stairs and looks back when he hears his name. In the living world, Zhao Yunlan is lying on the floor whispering Shen Wei's name. An amber pendant rolls down the stairs and stops near him. He picks it up and opens it. It contains one of his lollipop wrappers, which Shen Wei picked up 10,000 years ago and has been carrying with him ever since. (ep40) After Zhao Yunlan sacrifices himself to light the flame of the Guardian Lantern, which will burn him for eternity, he is reunited with Shen Wei in the Hallows' wormhole. Shen Wei says that he's "finally arrived." Zhao Yunlan asks if he's leaving now and Shen Wei says yes but asks that they make a promise to each other: that no matter what happens or where they go in the future, they would find a way to meet up again. Zhao Yunlan agrees. (ep40) Name His original given name was 嵬 (wéi), meaning "high; rugged/rocky". Zhao Yunlan, while speaking with him as Kunlun https://youtu.be/s7BgInVP3RI?t=129 ep35, suggests that he change it to 巍 (wēi), meaning "lofty; towering". Shen Wei says that he loves the name because it came from Kunlun, and keeps it. In his political function for Dixing, he is called the Black Cloak Envoy (黑袍使 = Hēi Páo Shǐ). Powers Learning others' powers and being able to use them himself Opening transdimensional portals between Dixing and Haixing Stopping time (ep01, ep05) Calling forth lightning and thunder (ep01) - to make his grand entrance as the Black Cloak Envoy at the end of episode 1 Freezing enemies in ice (ep01) Materializing and de-materializing his glaive (ep01) Healing himself and others (ep02) - in episode 2, he uses black energy to heal the claw marks on his left shoulder from the Shadow Man Negating powers (ep02) - in episode 2, while the telekinetic Dixiangren (who's never named in the show) has Li Qian suspended in the air, Shen Wei does something that seems to send out a burst of light that cancels out the other Dixiangren's power Reflecting attacks? (ep02) - in episode 2, when the telekinetic Dixiangren tries to hit him with his power in the hospital room, Shen Wei counters with some black energy of his own; the resulting backlash throws them both off their feet; alternately, this could be when Shen Wei absorbs the telekinetic power and uses it to bounce back the Dixingren's power Killing/vanishing others with a burst of black energy (ep05) Telekinesis (ep15) Mindlink (ep15) - Shen Wei is able to share what he is seeing (the energy patterns around the invisible doorway between Haixing and Dixing) with Zhao Yunlan by touching him Fighting Style Shen Wei is skilled in hand-to-hand combat and he also fights with a sword which he can transform into a glaive. He calls it a Gonggong blade. (ep33) He can use his powers offensively and defensively. Wardrobe As the Black Cloak Envoy, he wears a black robe. He has always worn black clothes, which is how he earned his moniker. https://youtu.be/s7BgInVP3RI?t=285 ep35 He wears a mask because when he is killing his enemies, he feels afraid and the mask hides his expression so that his enemies will be scared of him instead. He tells Kunlun that his blade must be fast so that his enemies won't notice his hands shaking. (ep34) As Professor Shen, he wears a pair of round wire-rimmed glasses and is usually well put-together in a full suit. When he wears his glasses, other Dixingren don't appear to recognize him as the Black Cloak Envoy. (ep05) He doesn't own a mobile phone and says that he's not good with technology (he writes on a chalkboard during his lectures, has Li Qian advance his presentation slides). (ep01) He wears a necklace with an amber pendant, inside which contains a lollipop wrapper from when he first met Zhao Yunlan 10,000 years ago. (ep35,ep40) Quotes about him Episode 2: ''' : LJ: "Dixing's Black Cloaked Envoy is said to be ruthless. Why was he lenient towards our Chief? He isn't biding time for revenge, is he?" : .. : CS: "The Black Cloaked Envoy is our hero. He is not fodder for gossip." : WZ: "I nearly forgot. We have a huge fan of the Black Cloaked Envoy here." '''Episode 34: : ZYL, when SW is questioning if it's fair to win peace through bloodshed for those who died: "But you would still choose this road. Sacrificing a few people in exchange for thousands of years of peace for the majority. You just lack the final step to fulfill it." : SW: "But this step, I must take it on my own. I don't want my remaining brothers to sacrifice themselves anymore." : ZYL: "You still have me." Episode 35: : ZYL: Wherever you go, you are the outstanding one. https://youtu.be/s7BgInVP3RI?t=298 ep35 'Episode 35: ' : SW: "If I had a choice-" : ZYL: "You will still do the same thing. Even if it is not what you want, you still fight with the bad because of your conscience and for the sake of everyone. If you don't like it, then it is better not to live in this world." https://youtu.be/s7BgInVP3RI?t=308 ep35 *There's a bit of inconsistency about whether 10,000 years have passed. In episode 35, which is set before the show starts, the Justiciar says that it's been 10,000 years since the war ended and it was after that that the Black Cloak Envoy woke up and was found. So Shen Wei hasn't actually been awake for 10,000 years to be looking for Zhao Yunlan.